ADEA and Government of Rwanda launch Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning in Kigali to boost quality education

The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster education quality through the launch of the new Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning (ICQN-TL) in Kigali on February 18, 2016.

The Minister for Education of the Republic of Rwanda, Papias Musafiri Malimba, presided over the official launch, together with the ADEA Executive Secretary, Oley Dibba-Wadda, on the margins of the MasterCard Foundation’s “Thought Leaders Symposium on Enabling Teachers, Enabling Youth”. High-level officials in attendance included the Principal of University of Rwanda’s College of Education, George Njoroge; the Deputy Director of the MasterCard Foundation, Kim Kerr; Paul Atherton of the Department for International Development (DFID), Rwanda; Leon Tily of the University of Bristol; Senior Officials from the Ministry of Education, Rwanda Education Board and other Government Ministries.

In his speech, Papias Musafiri Malimba said, “This Memorandum signed between the Government of Rwanda and ADEA aims at enhancing the quality of education in Rwanda and in the continent, especially in promoting teaching and learning.”

MasterCard Foundation and the Government of Rwanda have been hosting a two-day meeting of global education leaders on “Enabling teachers, Enabling Youth: Strengthening Teacher Quality in Secondary Schools in Sub-Saharan Africa”, providing an excellent platform for ADEA and Rwanda’s Ministry of Education to strengthen their strategic partnership through the new ICQN-TL.

“The hope of the African child, and youth, relies on the hope of a reformed teaching force, a reformed curriculum, a reformed learning assessment method and a reformed skills provision strategy – this is where the work of the Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning becomes crucial. And because of this, we are truly grateful to the Government of the Republic of Rwanda, for taking the mantle of leading and hosting this ICQN,” ADEA’s Executive Secretary, Oley Dibba-Wadda, said during the launch.

Hosted by volunteering champion countries, ICQNs serve as catalysts in the process of accumulation of information on innovative educational experiences in Africa and for the implementation of the lessons that each country or group of countries draws from those experiences to improve their own programs. Their creation is proposed and facilitated by ADEA and is based on common challenges faced by a group of countries that, through the ICQN, form a community of practice.

Now ADEA has six ICQNs led by the following champion countries and focused on the following specific theme: Early Childhood Development (ECD) – Mauritius; Literacy and National Languages (LNL) – Burkina Faso; Mathematics and Science Education (MSE) – Kenya; Peace Education (PE) – Kenya; Teaching and Learning (TL) – Rwanda; and Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) – Côte d’Ivoire.

“We are confident that, with the signing of the MoU between ADEA and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda, the work of the ICQN – which includes supporting teachers' professional development and other areas of learning related to the curriculum, teaching and learning materials and measurement of learning outcomes – will benefit the entire continent and contribute greatly to the implementation of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025,” Dibba-Wadda concluded.

ADEA and other partners will support the ICQN on Teaching and Learning as it stabilizes its operations after the launch. This will entail putting in place relevant governing structures and the development of a strategic plan to guide the ICQN’s work.

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About ADEA

The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is a forum for policy dialogue, composed of all the 54 Ministers of Education in Africa. Established in 1988 as a framework for better coordination among development agencies, ADEA is a pan-African institution built on a genuine partnership between African Ministries of Education and Training and their technical and external partners. www.adeanet.org